Apple has invited the press to the , a venue where Apple has launched new products before, next Wednesday 27th. Industry, media and users have been raving about the possibility of a tablet device for over a year now. In recent weeks it was discovered that Apple registered the domain islate.com, detonating the rumours at Mac sites. iSlate could be the name of the device, and reminds of the same thing happening with the iphone.com prior to its launch. The term iPad was used before and now becomes relevant for recent news. I preferred the term iBook, or in the fashion of the new mouse, Magic Slate.

The latest information suggests that the Apple tablet will be a 10" iPhone. A larger device should need a better processor, and that's why PA Semi Custom Processor comes in the game. The company recently acquired by Apple could have been developing processors specifically made for the new tablet. With the amount of rumours out there I can figure out how the tablet is going to look like.

Similarly to the AppStore for apps, it will be part of iTunes but will run as a separate app on the iPhone/iPad

Another announcement that could be made on Wednesday is a new update of the iPhone OS. The new version should run in the new device at a higher resolution than the current. I doubt that they change the OS, specially now that the Android platform is expanding.

The same thoughts are for the SDK. Apple shouldn't have to alienate current iPhone developers asking them to change. I can see new libraries that are only accessible on the larger iPhone, like advanced multitouch gestures for instance.

In addition to hardware, Apple is also creating content for the new device. I think that Apple will add a new "AppStore" for newspapers and magazines. Similarly to the AppStore for apps, it will be part of iTunes but will run as a separate app on the iPhone/iPad. Apple would create a separate newspapers/book store to avoid interfering with the AppStore ecosystem. The new store will be focused in reading content, covering all that Amazon has done with the Kindle. This might involve the collaboration from mobile network operators, including the much rumoured about Verizon deal.